Use the Support Deep Dive survey to understand if people are set up for success. This includes the support your employees receive from managers, both technical and emotional.
From this survey, you’ll get a clear view of how supported people feel – and whether they need more help from their managers.
When to use this survey
- If another survey showed this as an area for improvement
- To prepare for change in the organisation
- When revising your people strategy
- If you have encountered a low Support Score in your Organisational Fitness matrix
How the survey is scored
This Deep Dive survey addresses four criteria of Support: Technical Support, Pastoral Support, Career Support and Priorities & Issues. By listening to your employees along these key dimensions, you will understand if people are set up for success. This includes the support they receive from managers, both technical and emotional.
Asking 12 questions on a 5-point Likert scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree, this Deep Dive first finds each survey respondents’ total score. This is based on the proportion of positive answers (‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’). Combining these scores, the average over all respondents is calculated, deriving the overall Support score.
This survey also contains four open-text questions, to understand and add context to the scores and support your findings.
Technical Support
The Technical Support dimension of Support explores if your employees feel that their managers have the skills to support them in their roles, and if they receive clear directions to improve performance.
The Technical Support dimension is made up of the indicators: Skills, Performance Management, Best Practice and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
| Skills | My manager has the skills required to effectively support me. | Employees believe that their manager has the technical capability to help them when needed. |
| Performance Management | My manager provides me with actionable feedback that helps me improve my performance. | Employees are given practical feedback, and clear direction to improve their performance. |
| Best Practice | My manager provides guidance on the best practices needed to deliver my work. | Employees are told how to perform their role more effectively by their manager. |
| Open Text | Describe the last time your manager or leader spent time coaching you. | Asked to understand whether managers provide a good level of coaching to their teams. |
Pastoral Support
The Pastoral Support dimension of Support explores if your employees feel that their managers consider their personal needs, and works to protect your wellbeing in the workplace.
The Pastoral Support dimension is made up of the indicators: Consideration, Team Inclusion, HR Support and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
| Consideration | My manager shows consideration for me as a person. | Employees feel like their personal and emotional needs are taken into account by their manager. |
| Team Inclusion | My manager provides me with actionable feedback that helps me improve my performance. | Employees are made to feel welcome within the organisation, thanks to their managers’ efforts. |
| HR Support | My manager consults with HR appropriately and helps get us the support we need. | Employees are aware of their manager consulting HR, so they can provide appropriate support. |
| Open Text | Please describe how your manager supports your wellbeing at work. | Asked to understand whether employees feel like their manager considers their wellbeing. |
Career Support
The Career Support dimension helps determine if your employees feel that they are supported in terms of career progression. Are they encouraged to set long-term goals, and helped to achieve them?
The Career Support dimension is made up of the indicators: Goal Setting, Opportunities, Coaching and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
| Goal Setting | My manager helps me set long-term goals for my career development. | Employees feel their manager is genuinely invested in their career development. |
| Opportunities | My manager helps me to find opportunities to further my development. | Employees recognise that their manager takes practical steps to find them development opportunities. |
| Coaching | My manager takes the time to coach me in my career. | Employees have received coaching from their manager, with the aim of developing their career. |
| Open Text | What additional professional development opportunities would you like to be offered and why? | Asked to understand what opportunities employees feel like they need to progress in their career. |
Priorities & Issues
The Priorities & Issues dimension helps you understand if your employees are able to prioritise their workloads, and resolve issues that arise. Is their focus clear, and is your team’s workload balanced?
The Priorities & Issues dimension is made up of the indicators: Priorities, Issues, Workload and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
| Priorities | My manager helps me understand what my priorities should be and where to focus. | Employees are helped to prioritise their tasks by their manager. |
| Issues | When problems arise at work, my manager helps me to solve them. | Employees feel that their manager quickly and efficiently helps them tackle any issues. |
| Workload | My manager ensures that our workload is balanced fairly across the team. | Employees believe their teams’ workload is distributed evenly by their manager. |
| Open Text | What more can your manager do to support your workload? | Asked to understand what more managers can do to support their employees. |